When I was a child, my father and I would sit together in our small living room, watching the evening news. I called him 'Babeh.'

At the time, the Bosnian war dominated the headlines almost every night. On another evening, I saw a man being interviewed, surrounded by a circle of reporters. Curious, I asked Babeh why that person was on TV. "Because he's brilliant," he replied. Years later, that man became the president of Indonesia, replacing a leader who had ruled for 32 years. And the curious child watching the news—aka me—grew up to become a journalist and, eventually, interviewed that very man.

Early Days of Journalism

Those evenings with Babeh planted the seeds of journalism and global affairs in my mind, which later grew into a deep passion. With his half-hearted blessing—he had hoped I would follow in his footsteps as an accountant—I pursued a degree in international relations at Parahyangan Catholic University in my hometown, Bandung, Indonesia. Even before graduating, I worked as a TV news presenter and radio announcer. Some nights, Babeh would drive me to work on his motorbike.

My time in local broadcasting ignited my desire to be in the field, to witness and report the news firsthand. In 2009, I moved to Jakarta to join Metro TV, Indonesia’s first news television station, where I learned the craft of news gathering.

From Breaking News to Documentary

For five years, I worked as a general assignment reporter, covering what felt like an endless stream of breaking news—corruption scandals, terrorism, and mass protests. During one such protest over fuel prices, my cameraman and I found ourselves caught in a cloud of tear gas outside the Indonesian parliamentary building. It was a baptism by fire.

In 2014, I transitioned to the station's documentary division, a move that tested and stretched my storytelling abilities. I traveled across Indonesia in search of compelling narratives—tracking down a rare species of "walking" shark and even interviewing a notorious cannibal over dinner. Each assignment pushed me beyond the surface of daily news, into the depths of human stories and untold discoveries.

Babeh

One day, after returning from a strenuous hike up a volcanic mountain for a documentary, I casually mentioned to Babeh that he would have enjoyed the challenge. I don’t remember his response, but I do remember his voice—raspy and weak. It was the last time I ever heard it.

Babeh was battling late-stage lung cancer. He had been a heavy smoker all his life; the sight of him watching the evening news without a cigarette in hand was unthinkable.

Another dream he had planted in my mind was going to school in Boston. For his generation, it symbolized intelligence and prestige. Many of his influential friends, whom he referred to as the "Boston mafia," had studied there. When I told him I planned to pursue my master’s in Boston, his eyes lit up.

Boston and Washington, D.C.

After seven years as a national news reporter, I left for Boston in 2016 to pursue a master's degree in broadcast journalism at Boston University. If Babeh had been alive to see it, he would have been proud beyond words.

He passed away in the ICU on the morning of Valentine’s Day in 2015. That very day, I had to leave his bedside to take the TOEFL, a requirement for my university application. He was 66 years old. Had I truly understood the gravity of his condition, I would have never left his side.

Upon completing my master’s, I moved to Washington, D.C., to work as an international multimedia journalist for the Voice of America (VOA) Indonesian Service. Here, my two worlds—international relations and journalism—finally converged, and my passion for storytelling solidified. There is no greater fulfillment than helping my audience understand not just what is happening, but why it matters.

BBC Indonesia

I worked with VOA from 2018 to 2020. When the world was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, I returned to Jakarta, grateful to be near family. My younger sister had just given birth under emergency circumstances, delivering her son alone in the operating room due to pandemic restrictions. I have always thought that my little nephew has Babeh’s eyebrows.

From 2021 to 2023, I worked with BBC Indonesia as a senior journalist, taking on the challenge of presenting Indonesian news to an international audience. Unlike at VOA, where I brought global stories to Indonesians, at BBC, my role was to explain Indonesia to the world.

At BBC, I ventured into new storytelling mediums—podcasts and radio—beyond my comfort zone of TV and digital platforms. Hearing my voice on BBC's Newshour, a podcast I had listened to religiously in Boston, was a surreal milestone.

Ballistics and a Car Crash

Reporting in Indonesia, a country prone to natural disasters, meant relentless news cycles. BBC provided me with invaluable hostile environment and emergency first-aid training in the UK, where I learned life-saving skills like stopping massive bleeding. I also trained in ballistics and explosives awareness for conflict reporting.

Ironically, the skill that proved most immediately useful was the one on vehicle collisions. Months later, while covering Indonesia’s nickel industry in Sulawesi, our car skidded off the road and nearly plunged into a valley. Miraculously, I walked away unscathed—and continued reporting.

The Middle East

In 2023, I returned to VOA in Washington, DC. Not long after, I underwent another hostile environment training—this time, in preparation for an assignment in the Middle East.

During the war in Gaza, I was sent to report on escalating tensions in the West Bank and Jerusalem. At the time, Bethlehem cancelled the Christmas celebration for the first time in solidarity with Gaza, Israel's raids at refugee camps became more frequent, and Muslim Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque descended into clashes. Though international media were barred from entering Gaza, I worked alongside an award-winning fixer, and absorbed invaluable lessons from the ground.

This assignment felt like a full-circle moment. If Babeh had been alive, he would have seen me reporting from Bethlehem’s town square, Jerusalem’s ancient alleys, and Ramallah’s streets. He would have watched me on the evening news, just as we had watched together so many years ago.

And I would have given anything to hear his voice once more.

Valdya Baraputri continues her journalism journey as an International Multimedia Journalist for VOA in Washington, D.C. While climate reporting is her beat, she remains closely tied to politics and breaking news. She shares a ‘very DC’ household with two housemates, navigating life in the heart of the nation's capital.